When Ayrton Senna was rocking the establishment in his debut Formula One season, a leading driver of the time remarked that it was appropriate the Brazilian's name had laxative connotations.

"That's the effect Senna has on me," the driver said.

After Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix, it is likely that many of today's F1 stars are having similar thoughts about Juan Pablo Montoya.

Three races into the Colombian's Grand Prix career, it is perhaps a bit early to be likening Montoya to the man who is arguably the greatest driver of all time.

I get the feeling Montoya might be something special

Geoff WillisWilliams designer

Yet there seems little doubt that Montoya is poised to shake up F1 like few before him. Already it is clear that he is the most exciting debutant since Michael Schumacher stormed on to the scene in 1991.

In fact, perhaps like Roy Keane watching Steven Gerrard in Liverpool's 2-0 defeat of Manchester United on Saturday, Schumacher may well have felt himself a little haunted by a vision of the future on Sunday.

Montoya's sensational overtaking move on the undisputed king of F1 put the German in his place like very few have done before.

Both Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard have put successful and aggressive moves on Schumacher in the last year - the Scot's latest a brilliant pass to secure a superb victory at Interlagos.

But for Montoya to do it in only his third F1 outing is something else again. And the manner of it took the breath away.

Schumacher was elbowed aside in a manner he is used to dispensing, and Montoya's message was clear - take notice, boys, I'm here and I mean business.

The fact that he did this with a much heavier fuel load than the Ferrari driver - Montoya was stopping once, Schumacher twice - makes it all the more special.

It was perhaps no surprise that Montoya then went on to lead the race with such aplomb - this is after all a man who won the US-based Champ Car series in his debut season.

F1, though, is another matter altogether. Many drivers arrive at the sport's highest echelon with rave notices only to be swamped by the uniquely-pressured environment with which Grand Prix racing smothers its competitors.

Montoya, though, does not look likely to go the same way.

For the revitalised Williams-BMW team, which drafted in Montoya to replace Jenson Button this year, all this is no surprise.